EditorialLandmarks needs funds to do its jobAs an article by Charles Hack in this weeks issue details, the citys Landmarks Preservation Commission is both seriously under-funded and under-staffed.The citys smallest agency, Landmarks budget has been slashed to its 2001 level. And Landmarks has just one enforcement officer to protect all New York Citys more than 22,000 landmarks.Penny PostAT&T in the avant-gardeBy Andrei CodrescuAT&T just went avant-garde with its ampersand campaign. Ads featuring & have done better than all past single-letter campaigns, including O. O had a big career, from the high-culture perch of the story of O to Gen O, to the populist Big O, still highly desirable. Nor was the career of X negligible, from Gen X to the drug X to the many pharmaceuticals whose entire weight rests on the X, most notably Xanax.

NotebookLearning to part with that oh so precious clutterBy Wickham BoyleIs it age or disposition? Do we realize as we grow older that we are hoardaholics, keeping way too much? Or are we born that way and only reache a critical mass when we get to be middle-aged?

Brewing black, white and green in harmony By Erica SteinTheres something inherently civilized about tea. Its not to be drunk quickly, solely for its caffeine like coffee, but to be slowly savored for the sense of calm and well being that it provides. Its more a culture than a beverage.

Downtown Express photo by Elisabeth RobertOne of Downtowns Bravest Lieutenant Matthew J. Donachie of Ladder Company 10 on Liberty St. received the Thomas E. Crimmins Medal from Mayor Bloomberg Wednesday outside City Hall. Last spring, Donachie rushed down two floors to the cellar of a commercial building on West St. and went into a room with an electric fire before the power source had been cut off. He dragged an unconscious man up to safety. Donachie was one of 53 city firefighters honored for their bravery at the ceremony.

Downtown Express photo by Ramin TalaieCool jazz and nightA big crowd at Battery Park watched the stage and screen June 3 as sax man Branford Marsalis played at the opening concert of the River to River festival. Violinist Joshua Bell also performed.

A late spring Shakespearean production Students in Manhattan Youths I.S. 89 afterschool program performed a lively rendition of A Midsummer Nights Dream last Thursday at the Batter Park City middle school.

Caribbean party at Bowling Green Members of the Aruba Dance Troupe performed for a large crowd at a Caribbean festival Wednesday outside Bowling Green Park

Struggling to enforce landmark law By Charles Hack
Just four months after the city declared an old cold-storage warehouse at Manhattans W. 14th and Washington Sts. in September of last year part of a new Gansevoort Market Historic District, its owner slapped a two-story-high billboard against the buildings red-brick wall.Pataki moves B.P.C.-Javits plan forwardBy Elizabeth OBrienWith Albert AmateauGovernor George Pataki introduced legislation on June 3 advancing the controversial plan to commit $350 million in Battery Park City excess funds towards the expansion of the Javits Center in Midtown.

Memorial barrier removed from W.T.C. designBy Josh Rogers With Elizabeth OBrienOfficials with the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. said Wednesday that the proposed wall blocking the World Trade Center memorial from Battery Park City has been removed fromthe design, satisfying a neighborhood concern about the plan.

9/11 memories to be preserved at W.T.C. sound boothBy Josh RogersFrom the wife whose husband was killed to the workers and residents who fled Lower Manhattan to the rescue workers who rushed to the buildings to the person who watched the Twin Towers collapse on a television thousands of miles away, there are countless stories connected to 9/11, and by this September people are expected to have a place to record their memories of the day on the same block where nearly 3,000 people were killed.

Art group says it might as well dance in the Sun By David H. EllisLower Manhattan can expect an injection of ballet, modern dance and even the Brazilian dance form capoeria next spring as the Soho-based Dance Space Center announced their plans to move into a new 25,000 square foot location in the landmark Sun Building at the arts and entertainment task force meeting of Community Board 1 last Thursday.

Nearing the last days for Manhattan Youths centerAs Manhattan Youth prepares to close its community center at 55 Warren St., the youth services provider is looking for a place to house its administrative offices until a new recreation center is built on Chambers St.

Soho builder scales back plan, as opponents fight onBy Elizabeth OBrienThe developer of a residential complex planned for Greene St. has scaled back his projects design, but neighbors say the proposal continues to flout a new law regulating construction on empty lots in Soho and Noho.

Religious group center across from the W.T.C.By David H. EllisThe faith-based organization New York Disaster Interfaith Services, which has been involved in assisting victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center, dedicated a disaster resources and training center to the Manhattan law firm Chadbourne & Parke on May 25th following a series of donations by the company over the past two years.

Gerson releases cultural and literal roadmap for DowntownBy Erica SteinCouncilmember Alan Gerson this week issued a sweeping new proposal for a cultural district in Lower Manhattan. Gersons plan calls for the establishment of eight linked arts corridors  which would run past the galleries of Tribeca, the lofts of Soho, the museums of Battery Park City and the performance spaces of the Lower East Side; outlines the development of cultural space at the World Trade Center site and establishes the need for greater governmental support of existing arts organizations.

Heart-stopping Broadway documentaryBy Jerry TallmerI can hear it now, and in her voice, and so all his life could Tom Wingfield, also known as Thomas Lanier Williams, a/k/a Tennessee Williams, and so, as they talk to Rick McKay, can Gena Rowlands, Uta Hagen, Ben Gazzara, Fred Ebb, Charles Durning, and dozens of others.Koch on FilmBy, Ed Koch

My Mother Likes Women (-) The New York Times film reviewer, Stephen Holden, referred to this flick as being so close in spirit to the early films of Pedro Almodovar that the very existence of this Spanish frolic would be unthinkable without the masters having prepared the way. Believe me, this is no Almodovar movie. It is an attempt to emulate the master of the art form, but it ends up being a mishmash of shtick and adolescent humor.The Mudge Boy (+) This is a very sensitive, beautifully acted film about a 14-year-old boy, Duncan Mudge (Emile Hirsch), who lives on a farm with his father (Richard Jenkins). His mother recently died and father and son are clearly depressed.

Downtown is singles friendlyBy Melanie WallisSingle people in search of fun and romance came downtown last week for the Mix, Meet, Match singles event at the A & M Roadhouse. The event, put on by the Tribeca Organization, attracted a diverse crowd, both young and old, from Manhattan and beyond.